Eritrean eats go downtown

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This article was published 22/09/2014 (4014 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two novice restaurateurs are the latest to take a run at following in the footsteps of one of the city’s oldest and most successful downtown eateries.

Eseyas Rezene and Gary Tesfatsion opened their Red Sea Bar and Restaurant about two months ago at 268 Portage Ave.

For 93 years — from 1918 until 2011 — the 3,500-square-foot space had been home to the Chocolate Shop restaurant. For its first five or six decades, it was said to have been one of downtown Portage Avenue’s most popular restaurants.

Those glory days were a distant memory by the time it closed, and that’s when cousins Kelvin and Karen Peters stepped in. They reportedly spent between $250,000 and $300,000 to convert the tired, old space into a modern, Mediterranean-style bistro and lounge, which was named one of the city’s best restaurants of 2012.

Unfortunately, their Arkadash Bistro and Lounge lasted less than a year, quietly closing its doors in March 2013. And the space remained empty until this past summer, when Rezene and Tesfatsion followed a friend’s suggestion and opened their new restaurant/bar.

The Red Sea’s menu features a combination of North American favourites — things like burgers, sandwiches and wraps — and favourites from their home country of Eritrea. The idea is to try to appeal to not only consumers who prefer more traditional North American fare, but also to the city’s growing number of African immigrants, many of whom live in and around the downtown.

Rezene admitted in a recent interview customer volumes have been running hot and cold over the first two months.

He said daytime business volumes — they’re open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to cater to the downtown lunch crowd have been disappointing. But evenings and weekends have been busier because of events at the nearby MTS Centre and their decision to feature music DJs.

“But it’s improving every day,” he added, and they’re hoping the start of the new NHL season will give them a further boost.

Rezene said they chose the downtown for their first foray into the restaurant/bar business because it’s where they live and where they’re most comfortable.

He said they were aware of the success and longevity of the Chocolate Shop at that location. But the main reason they chose it over several others was it had already been renovated and modernized by the owners of Arkadash. So they only had to make a few changes.

He said one of the things working in their favour is their low start-up costs — less than $50,000, including their first two months’ rent. Low start-up costs mean less debt and a better chance of succeeding.

It’s worth noting Arkadash was one of a number of downtown Portage Avenue restaurant/lounges to come and go in recent years. Others included La Bamba Cafe & Lounge, which was located on the north side of Portage between Donald and Smith streets; the Juss Jazz lounge on the south side of Portage between Fort and Garry streets, the 4Play Sports bar and Entertainment Zone on the northeast corner of Portage and Hargrave Street, and Rinkside Restaurant and Bar, on the south side of Portage between Carleton and Hargrave.

That’s not to say there haven’t been success stories. Moxie’s Grill & Bar in the MTS Centre, Marcello’s Market & Deli in the Manitoba Hydro building and the Kim Long Restaurant between Fort and Garry are three examples that come to mind.

But Kris Mutcher, a retail-leasing specialist with the Winnipeg office of Colliers International, said there’s no question restaurants on downtown Portage Avenue face some challenges.

One of them is the two biggest concentrations of downtown office workers are at Portage and Main and on Broadway, and both areas have a good selection of restaurants close by.

“So it’s hard to pull them (the Portage and Main lunch crowd) three or four blocks down the road,” he said, unless they have another reason to go there or the restaurant has something unique to offer.

While having the MTS Centre close by should be a big plus for Portage Avenue establishments, Mutcher said the problem is people attending arena events tend to take the overhead skywalk system instead of Portage Avenue.

Especially during the winter months. So while the restaurants and bars connected to the skywalk system can do well on those occasions, that’s not always true for businesses that aren’t in the skywalk.

A third problem is there still aren’t enough people coming downtown on nights when there isn’t an event to draw them there, he said.

“So (on those nights) the dinner crowds can be light no matter where you are in the downtown.”

He said chain restaurants may have the financial wherewithal to weather those slow periods, but that’s not always the case with smaller, independent operators. The key to their long-term viability is getting more people living or staying downtown, and Mutcher said the completion of Glass House condominium complex near Portage and Hargrave and the new Alt Hotel at Portage and Donald should help.

Know of any newsworthy or interesting trends or developments in the local office, retail or industrial real estate sectors? Let real estate reporter Murray McNeill know at the email address below, or at 204-697-7254.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca